Fashola Is Igbo and his loyalty is questionable

The recent comment by Orji Uzor Kalu, the former governor of Abia State that if Babatunde Fashola, former governor of Lagos State were Ibo, he would have betrayed Tinubu is both laughable and questionable. How Kalu reached that conclusion beats imagination. Never knew he was a character or behavioral expert. However, just as many will agree that he misses the point in his characterization of the Igbo people and their political competency, he also went off mark in crediting Fashola with marks he does not deserve.
Let's start from the beginning. His Fashola really of a full Yoruba parentage? No. Fashola's mother his Igbo by tribe, while his father hailed from Ado-Ekiti. Lets set the record straight.
Fashola only bidder his time has the turn of events have shown. The Igbo blood in Fashola had always been at work. This Igbo blood dominated his political relations while in office and even now as Minister.
Fashola's loyalty has always being in question. Now, we know that all the while he was up to something else.
Who abandons is benefactor because of some irreconcilable differences? Who decides to team up with others just to work against the interest of his benefactor? Who turns around to denigrate or bite the hand that fed him? take a look at fashola and you will find your answer.
In Nigeria's recent history, the greatest beneficiary of political godfatherism is Fashola.From a struggling lawyer to his elevation as chief of staff and bang, as executive governor of Lagos fro 8 years.

>>
>> MUHAMMDU BUHARI'S CONTRIBUTION TO AISHA'S CAREER
>> Aisha Buhari was born Aisha Halilu, on 17th February 1971, in Adamawa state. She did her primary and secondary school education in the same state.
>> When Aisha married Muhammadu Buhari on 2nd December 1989, she only had a secondary school leaving certificate at the time.
>> Based on his pragmatic outlook to life and a zeal to empower women, especially his wife, Muhamamdu Buhari continuously sponsored Aisha's education up to masters degree level.
>> Furthermore, he encouraged her to pursue business, so that she could be independent and make contribution to society.
>> These are some of Aisha's achievements while living with Muhamamdu Buhari his wife:
>> 1. Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
>> 2. Master's degree in International Affairs and Strategic Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.
>> 3. Diploma in Beauty Therapy from the Carlton Institute of Beauty Therapy, Windsor, United Kingdom.
>> 4. Post-graduate diploma in Cosmetology and Beauty from Academy Esthetique Beauty Institute of France.
>> 5. Member of the United Kingdom Vocational Training and Charitable Trust.
>> 6. Member International Health and Beauty Council.
>> 7. Founder/Managing Director of Hanzy Spa and Principal of Hanzy Beauty Institute.
>> 8. Resource Person to the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
>> 9. Published a book titled "Essentials of Beauty Therapy: A Complete Guide for Beauty Specialists”.
>> 10. Patron of various charity organisations at home and abroad.
>> Regardless of the joke he cracked in Germany, that his wife belongs to his kitchen, living room and the other room, this man, Muhammadu Buhari, has done everything conceivable to assist his wife attain fulfilment, independence, and thus become a proud contributor to human society.
>> Muhammadu Buhari has remained a faithful husband and a great father to Aisha's 5 children.
>> Ask yourself this sincere question; how many men out there on the planet are this good to their wives?
>> Fellow compatriots, I solicit for your fervent prayers for our President.
>> May God bless Nigeria and Nigerians. Amen.
>> Dr. Idris Ahmed.
>

Ardent followers of the political events in the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) in the country would express consternation on how things are beginning to fall apart with centre no longer holding in the party that was consummated less than three years ago.

Like every discerning mind, I quite appreciate the fact that the APC was formed by conglomeration strange bed fellows. It is also not an understatement to state that the coming together of politicians of diverse ethnic backgrounds, conflicting political ideologies and interests would spark up rancours and I think the present political scenario playing out must have been presumed but with no strong internal democracy to tame the expected monster.

But one fact must be established here, the crisis is not expected so soon. One would have expected the gladiators to tarry a while and keep their gun powders dry till 2019 when the scramble to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari would have gathered momentum.

One may wonder why were people attaching so much interest and emotion to the imbroglio between the National leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the party’s national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, because the opposition, which superintended over the country for 16 unbroken years, is also mired in intractable crisis.

The only difference has been that the PDP enjoyed a relative cohesion during the first five years of its establishment, with President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar having the best of relationship before the 2003 succession battle created a centrifugal force that later shook the party to its foundation.

Several diverse opinions had been reeled out over the attack launched by Tinubu against Oyegun on the conduct of the APC governorship primary in Ondo. Some were of the opinions that Tinubu would have taken things easy and allow the party to use its internal mechanism to rectify the perceived malfeasance in the emergence of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu in the highly pulsating and controversial primary. In contrast, some said Tinubu was right, because he wouldn’t have folded his arms and allow a clique to be running the party he laboured to build like a lawless fiefdom.

I found one thing so traumatizing here, that is the fact that the matter is gradually assuming an ethnic colouration. Various political pundits ascribed the supremacy battle to a clandestine moves by some Fulani oligarchs to allegedly asphyxiate the Yoruba political future within the party. Without this coming to the fore, one needs no rocket scientist to explain that there is obvious and dangerous political chess-game and intricacies within the party geared towards neutralizing Tinubu, who is indisputably the leader of Yoruba in APC.

An Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, a strong believer and proponent of this theory cited several historical political trajectories in the country to corroborate the fact that Fulanis can’t play subservient to anybody. But did Tinubu want any subservient in APC? Considering his progressive political background anchored on justice, equity and fairplay, what Tinubu wanted going by the contents of the letter written to Oyegun was for justice to be done in Ondo governorship conundrum and nothing more.

I have seen many Tinubu’s traducers coming up with unsubstantiated allegations that what the national leader wanted was for his anointed candidate, Dr. Segun Abraham to be imposed. As naivety and hollow as this allegation was, it worth being addressed.

Let me start by emphasizing that Oyegun and his NWC have not denied the fact that the delegate list used for the conduct of the contentious poll was padded with 150 fictitious names. Silence in law means consent. Even the beneficiary of the alleged fraud, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, who incidentally, is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), has not overtly debunked the allegation. All they were busy defending was the fact that nobody could practically decipher whom the padded delegates actually voted for out of the 24 aspirants.
As apposite and intelligent as the foregoing sounded, one fact has been established and that was admittance of fraud. If the APC leaders still value integrity and wholeheartedly embraced President Muhammadu Buhari’s quests to cleanse the country of corruption in any form through his change agenda, Nigerians expected that the primary should have been set aside in line with the Helen Bendega-led appeal panel’s recommendations.

My own fear here is that, for how long would Nigerians been in abeyance expecting their Messiah? When President Buhari plunged into the presidential race after three futile attempts, they expected that the man that would redirect the country to the path of sanity had arrived. Nigerian citizens didn’t act gullibly, they acted based on Buhari’s track records. In actual fact, the president has‎ demonstrated his sincerity and candour in this direction, but the current Ondo debacle has tremendously tainted the anti-corruption war, except the APC –led federal government is beclouded by sentiment.

However, I have not changed my mind that something good can still come out of Jerusalem. Sanity can still be instilled and prevail in APC. I shared the view of the greatest sufferer of the shenanigans, Dr Abraham that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) must probe the alleged poll robbery to add glamour to the anti-graft war.

President Buhari must remember that the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu are being probed over alleged doctoring of the senate’s standing rule that brought them into office. Nigerians are expecting that there should be no sacred cow to protect the institutions of government.

Coming to the main issue, did Tinubu’s adversaries in APC realized the enormity of what they were out to achieve? Are they abreast of the fact that Tinubu belongs to Yoruba nation and whatever affects him would be interpreted as a persecution of the ethnic group? Aside from the impending doom that awaits APC in the Southwest, the present imbroglio had polarised the party into three with each striving hard to establish its dominance over and above the other.

Back to the allegation of imposition against Tinubu while calling the shot in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). It was alleged that Akeredolu’s emergence shouldn’t have rattled the national leader on account of his alleged domineering tendency as ACN leader and founder. They cited how he unilaterally imposed Dr Kayode Fayemi and Mr. Babatunde Fashola in Ekiti and Lagos prior to 2007 governorship polls against the will of the party. They also alluded to the alleged imposition of Akeredolu in the last Ondo poll to justify their warped and wild allegation.

One thing would have to be registered here, Tinubu is a politically savvy and ingenious person with his experiences drawn from his stint at the Senate and eight years as the governor of the most sophisticated State in Nigeria, Lagos. These callous politicians shouldn’t have expected him to act foolishly by conducting primaries in ACN, a regional party that was grossly susceptible to incursion of the highly dominant PDP. To avoid this, he always opted for consensus and it paid off with the party controlling six states from the initial one.

The fact I want to raise here is not to apportion blame or chastise those opposed to the APC national leader, but to tell them to watch their back and tread softly as notable Yoruba persons and opinion moulders across party lines are viewing the raging war as an attempt to subjugate Yoruba’s voice in the ruling party. With the way Adebanjo, former Governor of Old Ondo State, Evang. Bamidele Olumilua, former Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode and others had spoken in defence of Tinubu, I think that was instructive for them to allow civility and commonsense to prevail in this matter.

The insinuation that the external forces had found allies among Tinubu’s political scions is not new to Yoruba race. They did same to the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the first republic.

Those found to have got involved in that perfidy were identified by the Yorubas and that led to the eclipse of their political careers in the region.

Those fanning the ember of disunity and ethnic cleansing in the APC must beware to avoid the calamity that befell the PDP in 2015 to repeat itself in the ruling party.
BEH is Broooooooom!!!
Written by Ahmed Salami

Ardent followers of the political events in the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) in the country would express consternation on how things are beginning to fall apart with centre no longer holding in the party that was consummated less than three years ago.

Like every discerning mind, I quite appreciate the fact that the APC was formed by conglomeration strange bed fellows. It is also not an understatement to state that the coming together of politicians of diverse ethnic backgrounds, conflicting political ideologies and interests would spark up rancours and I think the present political scenario playing out must have been presumed but with no strong internal democracy to tame the expected monster.

But one fact must be established here, the crisis is not expected so soon. One would have expected the gladiators to tarry a while and keep their gun powders dry till 2019 when the scramble to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari would have gathered momentum.

One may wonder why were people attaching so much interest and emotion to the imbroglio between the National leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the party’s national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, because the opposition, which superintended over the country for 16 unbroken years, is also mired in intractable crisis.

The only difference has been that the PDP enjoyed a relative cohesion during the first five years of its establishment, with President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar having the best of relationship before the 2003 succession battle created a centrifugal force that later shook the party to its foundation.

Several diverse opinions had been reeled out over the attack launched by Tinubu against Oyegun on the conduct of the APC governorship primary in Ondo. Some were of the opinions that Tinubu would have taken things easy and allow the party to use its internal mechanism to rectify the perceived malfeasance in the emergence of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu in the highly pulsating and controversial primary. In contrast, some said Tinubu was right, because he wouldn’t have folded his arms and allow a clique to be running the party he laboured to build like a lawless fiefdom.

I found one thing so traumatizing here, that is the fact that the matter is gradually assuming an ethnic colouration. Various political pundits ascribed the supremacy battle to a clandestine moves by some Fulani oligarchs to allegedly asphyxiate the Yoruba political future within the party. Without this coming to the fore, one needs no rocket scientist to explain that there is obvious and dangerous political chess-game and intricacies within the party geared towards neutralizing Tinubu, who is indisputably the leader of Yoruba in APC.

An Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, a strong believer and proponent of this theory cited several historical political trajectories in the country to corroborate the fact that Fulanis can’t play subservient to anybody. But did Tinubu want any subservient in APC? Considering his progressive political background anchored on justice, equity and fairplay, what Tinubu wanted going by the contents of the letter written to Oyegun was for justice to be done in Ondo governorship conundrum and nothing more.

I have seen many Tinubu’s traducers coming up with unsubstantiated allegations that what the national leader wanted was for his anointed candidate, Dr. Segun Abraham to be imposed. As naivety and hollow as this allegation was, it worth being addressed.

Let me start by emphasizing that Oyegun and his NWC have not denied the fact that the delegate list used for the conduct of the contentious poll was padded with 150 fictitious names. Silence in law means consent. Even the beneficiary of the alleged fraud, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, who incidentally, is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), has not overtly debunked the allegation. All they were busy defending was the fact that nobody could practically decipher whom the padded delegates actually voted for out of the 24 aspirants.
As apposite and intelligent as the foregoing sounded, one fact has been established and that was admittance of fraud. If the APC leaders still value integrity and wholeheartedly embraced President Muhammadu Buhari’s quests to cleanse the country of corruption in any form through his change agenda, Nigerians expected that the primary should have been set aside in line with the Helen Bendega-led appeal panel’s recommendations.

My own fear here is that, for how long would Nigerians been in abeyance expecting their Messiah? When President Buhari plunged into the presidential race after three futile attempts, they expected that the man that would redirect the country to the path of sanity had arrived. Nigerian citizens didn’t act gullibly, they acted based on Buhari’s track records. In actual fact, the president has‎ demonstrated his sincerity and candour in this direction, but the current Ondo debacle has tremendously tainted the anti-corruption war, except the APC –led federal government is beclouded by sentiment.

However, I have not changed my mind that something good can still come out of Jerusalem. Sanity can still be instilled and prevail in APC. I shared the view of the greatest sufferer of the shenanigans, Dr Abraham that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) must probe the alleged poll robbery to add glamour to the anti-graft war.

President Buhari must remember that the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu are being probed over alleged doctoring of the senate’s standing rule that brought them into office. Nigerians are expecting that there should be no sacred cow to protect the institutions of government.

Coming to the main issue, did Tinubu’s adversaries in APC realized the enormity of what they were out to achieve? Are they abreast of the fact that Tinubu belongs to Yoruba nation and whatever affects him would be interpreted as a persecution of the ethnic group? Aside from the impending doom that awaits APC in the Southwest, the present imbroglio had polarised the party into three with each striving hard to establish its dominance over and above the other.

Back to the allegation of imposition against Tinubu while calling the shot in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). It was alleged that Akeredolu’s emergence shouldn’t have rattled the national leader on account of his alleged domineering tendency as ACN leader and founder. They cited how he unilaterally imposed Dr Kayode Fayemi and Mr. Babatunde Fashola in Ekiti and Lagos prior to 2007 governorship polls against the will of the party. They also alluded to the alleged imposition of Akeredolu in the last Ondo poll to justify their warped and wild allegation.

One thing would have to be registered here, Tinubu is a politically savvy and ingenious person with his experiences drawn from his stint at the Senate and eight years as the governor of the most sophisticated State in Nigeria, Lagos. These callous politicians shouldn’t have expected him to act foolishly by conducting primaries in ACN, a regional party that was grossly susceptible to incursion of the highly dominant PDP. To avoid this, he always opted for consensus and it paid off with the party controlling six states from the initial one.

The fact I want to raise here is not to apportion blame or chastise those opposed to the APC national leader, but to tell them to watch their back and tread softly as notable Yoruba persons and opinion moulders across party lines are viewing the raging war as an attempt to subjugate Yoruba’s voice in the ruling party. With the way Adebanjo, former Governor of Old Ondo State, Evang. Bamidele Olumilua, former Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode and others had spoken in defence of Tinubu, I think that was instructive for them to allow civility and commonsense to prevail in this matter.

The insinuation that the external forces had found allies among Tinubu’s political scions is not new to Yoruba race. They did same to the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the first republic.

Those found to have got involved in that perfidy were identified by the Yorubas and that led to the eclipse of their political careers in the region.

Those fanning the ember of disunity and ethnic cleansing in the APC must beware to avoid the calamity that befell the PDP in 2015 to repeat itself in the ruling party.
BEH is Broooooooom!!!
Written by Ahmed Salami

CHALLENGES OF LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA.

A REVIEW BY ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU,LEADER, ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS.MONDAY OCTOBER 3,2016. PROTOCOL


This authorized biography of Nigeria’s Leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, attempts a broad characterization of the different stages of his life and professional career.
 
Essentially, the book explores how his professional career, his personal life and prior experiences in government shaped and prepared him for the momentous assignment he now has.2.From the book’s pages, we see a man who has lived his life on assignments that always intersected with vital moments in the nation’s history. He was a man on assignment, when, in the military, he served bravely in a civil war to keep Nigeria united.
 
He was on national assignment when he became military head of state in a well-intentioned effort to straighten things out, and set Nigeria on a better path. When he ventured into politics and competed for the Presidency, culminating in his 2015 election victory, he was still on assignment, showing that there was no other way for this nation to go but the way of democracy, no matter how difficult the path may be.
 
Now, as sitting President, he is on an assignment, against time, to undo the wrongs of nearly two decades of bad governance.3.Such is the life of this man. Always in the public eye, doing things in his different, disciplined and Spartan way. From this compelling narrative, neatly demarcated into three parts and 24 chapters, the reader is able to glean the quintessential Buhari. 
The historical bent of this rendering, no doubt, makes for an educative and informative reading. The book is a timely narrative.
Buhari’s credential as a transformative leader, who has evolved into a committed democrat, is secured in this narrative. The Nigeria project, which occupies the center stage in the book, has been Buhari’s life.
 
4.Professor Paden, the author of the book, was on point when he observed that political leadership was critical in keeping Nigeria moving and developing.
 The search for that astute political leadership is what produced the Buhari presidency. That same search is what must propel this presidency forward.  5.The forward written by General Theophilus Danjuma captures the very essence of the book. No one is more qualified to evaluate President Buhari, from the past to the present, other than General Danjuma. As a senior officer to Buhari, they both enjoy a professional and personal friendship, unparalleled in our history. His words confirm that Buhari was a man prepared for leadership ahead of a time like this.6.The formation of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is an important event that the book addresses. The merger was the result of teamwork, belief in the democratic will of the people and a commitment to national purpose.

Many of us invested ourselves, our heart, body, mind and soul in this project for national salvation. Many did not want it to happen and fought to undermine the good we sought to accomplish. Many others straddled the sidelines, neither completely in nor completely out, but waiting to see how the prevailing winds might blow before making their move.
 
7.Muhammadu Buhari never wavered for one moment on this journey. Proving to be a focused leadership, he acted with single-minded determination that showed no fear or doubt in the rightfulness of the cause we pursued. I know this for an unassailable fact because I was there with him, every step of the way, to fight against, what the realists told us, were un-surmountable odds.
 Yet, our determination for reform beat their smart calculations. The desire for a better country was more powerful than their incumbent might.
 
8. So many people made contributions that made the historic merger possible. It would be impossible to give each person the accolades they deserve in a concise work such as this one. However, it is an account that we must begin to chronicle fully, and with care, for it is the story of when reform came to the land. Here, I must say that this book makes a good initial contribution toward this objective. 
Indeed, the APC is a party born of the quest for democratic good governance. In essence, the party is the embodiment of a democratic promise made between its members as well as a democratic vow made to the public. The APC genesis is truly a historic and an engaging one.
 
I, therefore, crave your indulgence here to give a bit more insight.9.In forming the ‘new’ party, we had 3 challenges. The first was learning the right lessons from the aborted attempt at political cooperation in 2011. Fortunately, both the ACN and CPC regretted our inability to conclude a pact in 2011.
 We agreed that there would be no recrimination over what did not happen before. We agreed there would be an intensified effort to forge the united effort that eluded us in 2011.
10.In 2011, both parties wanted cooperation, but became stuck whether that should take the form of an alliance or outright merger. This difference gave rise to another one, regarding how the Vice Presidential candidate, who would run with the Presidential Candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, would be selected.
 
Despite numerous good-faiths demonstrated in attempts to resolve these issues, time ran out on finding a solution. In retrospect, we all were perhaps a bit too inflexible and did not realize the extent to which cooperation and flexibility were needed to establish the reform we all wanted.
 
11.The result: each party went its own way in 2011. However, the talks of 2011 would foreshadow the discussions, beginning in 2013, which led to the successful merger for mingle the APC.
 
Talks mainly between the CPC, led by Buhari, and the ACN, led by myself, later joined by the ANPP and the progressive wing of APGA, would go more smoothly and would reach the desired finish-line this time. There would be a merger and there would be a presidential candidate agreeable to all. A winning combination had been joined.
 
It would give the PDP, which had boasted of 60 continuous years in power, more than it could handle. 12.After the successful merger and the birth of APC, it was time to pick a flag bearer. At the Lagos convention, President Buhari emerged as the new party’s choice in a transparently-honest process.  His speech to the convention was greeted with ovation, even by those who had opposed him.
 
In that speech, he said to the delight of all who heard, and I quote him:
“I can’t give you a pocketful of dollars or naira to purchase your support. Even if I could, I would not do so. The fate of this nation is not up for sale. What I will give you, and this nation, is all of my strength, commitment, sweat and toil in the service of the people.  What I can give you is my all”.
 
13.This set the tone for the campaign to come.
But first, there was the sticky issue of selecting a running mate. After careful study and discussion, it was agreed that we should field a religiously-balanced ticket given the sensitivities of the moment.
 Based on this conclusion, the name of Yemi Osinbajo, renowned law professor and former Lagos State Attorney-general during my tenure as governor, was proposed as an excellent running mate.
Osinbajo was also a Pastor in the largest church in the entire country, and this would answer those who wrongfully tried to paint Buhari as intolerant. 
From these events, you can see a portrait of President Buhari as a democrat, more adept, than many would think, at the nuances of coalition-building and political partnership. 14.During the campaign, he surprised many by his agility and the broad canvas on which he operated.In tracing the evolution of Buhari, the national leader, the author’s assertion that military rule is based on the power its holders can wield, while civilian rule is based on the legitimacy derived from elections, is a point with which I dare not debate.
 
Buhari’s career embodies this, hence his transition from being a military ruler to being a civilian leader, who subjected himself to the rigors and uncertainty of elections four times. Thrice he patiently went to court, seeking redress from electoral manipulation.
 The author, quite accurately, remarked on the Buhari victory equation, as flowing from Northern grassroots support and coalition-building with the South West as well as with other tendencies.15.Professor Paden, in the book, succinctly explains the transition from the Buhari in uniform to one in civilian garb. He notes that in terms of style of leadership, Buhari as a young military head of state was in a hurry.
 
However, now that he is older and given his experience, he is “slow but steady” in his approach to governance. The author juxtaposes Buhari’s military career and his political career adeptly, weaving them together in a tapestry that evokes the image of a man, who, from day one, had been destined for leadership.

16.President Buhari made three electoral promises: Security, Corruption and Employment. On security, success has been recorded in decimating Boko Haram. On corruption and the rule of law, Buhari continues to plough new ground.
 
Chapter 19 of the book entitled ‘Corruption and Law’ is a good examination on his fight against corruption. Unemployment has been a stubborn problem, made even more difficult by the oil price-driven recession, but this administration has shown its commitment toward achieving the structural reform that will bring a durable solution to this and other economic challenges.
17. On the whole, the book is an important one. It is a logically-presented account of the emergence of the current political dispensation with President Buhari as its central protagonist. The author tried to achieve many things within a relatively small space. He succeeded in the main. He let the reader get a view into the family roots, life and experience of President Buhari. He also told the story of his professional career as a military general. The story of his political career and the journey to the presidency was told in a straightforward manner.
 
Finally, he attempted a quick evaluation of the President’s first year in office. The author covers a vast amount of territory with an economy of words, yet he manages to give a feel for Muhammadu Buhari, the man. Therein lies the success of the book.
 
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

THE ASIWAJU THEY DON’T KNOW
By Tayo Ayinde

The seemingly ingrained tendency for human beings to so easily forget their antecedents, repay evil for good and seek to destroy those God chose to use as their benefactors never ceases to amaze me.

As a passionate member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I am saddened at the concerted, coordinated and consistent effort by a caucus within the party to diminish the influence and relevance of one of the prime architects and engineers of the party, namely Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The latest example of this grand conspiracy to undermine the Jagaban and erode his political base is the recent brazen and insulting manipulation and outright rigging of the Ondo State APC governorship primaries that has blatantly exposed the party to huge shame and unbelievable embarrassment just to prevent Asiwaju’s purported candidate from clinching the ticket.

There is absolutely nothing wrong or illegitimate about this objective even if it is morally abominable.

However, there is everything wrong with the brazen robbery of the Ondo State APC governorship ticket. It makes absolute nonsense of APC’s claim to moral integrity and to being a vehicle of positive change.

What is amazing is that most of those involved in the ‘bring Tinubu down’ project are those who owe their political ascendancy to the Jagaban. The prominent and enviable positions they occupy today is due, apart from God, to Asiwaju who identified their talents, recognized their capacities and decided to back their political careers with his time, energy, intellect and financial resources.

Despite the treachery of such people, they are at least living testaments to Asiwaju’s acumen for identifying, hunting for and nurturing leadership materials.

Incidentally, Chief Oyegun himself, who overruled the majority decision of the National Working Committee on the Ondo primaries, became National Chairman of APC principally because of Asiwaju’s strategic and material support. In the process, the Jagaban stepped on several toes. But this kind of betrayal is not limited to Oyegun. Some others who have become leading public office holders across the land courtesy the Jagaban are repaying Tinubu’s benevolence with unbelievable ingratitude. Even President Muhammadu Buhari’s closest advisers and teeming admirers acknowledge Asiwaju’s critical role in the electoral elevation of Buhari to the apex office after three previous failed attempts.

Thankfully, the President so far has continued to show his appreciation for the Jagaban’s indispensable and inestimable contribution in collaboration with others to his success. As for those who are today reveling in biting the fingers that fed them, I can only refer them to the book of Proverbs 17:13 in the Bible: Evil will never depart the house of anyone that repays evil for good.

I am in a position to speak authoritatively on Tinubu and his politics as one of his closest aides and associates over the last decade. I can testify to his immense capacity for hard work, capacious memory, integrity, fierce commitment to any cause he believes in and genuine patriotism as well as faith in Nigeria.

I only laugh when those who are beneficiaries of his so called ‘imposition’ of candidates for elections accuse Asiwaju of having a ‘domineering attitude’. They do not know the man. Yes, he stands strongly and forcefully by any idea or ideal he believes in. But nothing delights him better than a debate over issues and he is always ready to bow to superior opinion.

The Asiwaju they don’t know takes politics seriously as a vehicle for national reinvention and transformation. Asiwaju prepares with utmost commitment for every election taking every tactical and strategic step to ensure victory. Asiwaju personally sent me to Ondo State to assist Rotimi Akeredolu during the 2012 electioneering campaign for the governorship election.

As a genuine and unrepentant democrat , Asiwaju never takes the electorate for granted.

Asiwaju does not enjoy himself. He is not a member of a decadent elite that squander time cruising around the exotic beaches of the world. He is always burning the proverbial midnight oil working every day till the early hours of the morning.

The Asiwaju they don’t know genuinely believes in and loves people and this is not for politics. The Asiwaju they don’t know is ever eager to offer a helping hand to the needy, encourage the weak and raise those who are down.

The Asiwaju they don’t know is a wizard in the art and science of financial management and economic rejuvenation.

As a trained accountant myself, I am always amazed at the depth of his expertise in this area. It is thus no wonder that, he laid the foundation for the Lagos that has become the cynosure of all eyes today.

Surely, this man can be a great asset in our bid to get out of the current economic recession.

For those who have made a vocation of the practice of bashing, insulting, derogating and undermining of Tinubu, I urge them to continue on their path. But they should remember that all those who have done so in the past have lived to regret it.

MmThe simple message: Underrate and undermine Asiwaju at your peril. He is what the Yoruba call ‘Akanda Eniyan’ – God’s special creation.

Tayo Ayinde is a security consultant, accountant, businessman and a chieftain of the APC in Lagos State.

The Godwin Obaseki Campaign Organisation
For immediate release
Statement
The Godwin Obaseki Campaign Organisation has observed that the People Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie ize-Iyamu have been using social media and even word of mouth on the streets to mobilise their supporters for the purpose of engaging in violent street protests against the results of the September 28, 2016 governorship election in which our candidate, Mr Godwin Obaseki is coasting home to victory.
This call is an escalation of earlier threats to win the election at any cost. The protests that resulted in clashes with security operatives at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as results are being announced is part of this plot to destabilise the state because the outcome of election is not going in their favour. We have it on good authority that their next phase is to unleash the militants they imported into our dear state for the election.
We therefore call on all the relevant security agencies and the people of Edo state to hold Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, his campaign organisation and the PDP responsible for any breach of the peace during and after the announcement of the election results.
Signed:
The Godwin Obaseki Campaign Organisation

The Godwin Obaseki Campaign Organisation
For immediate release
Statement
The Godwin Obaseki Campaign Organisation has observed that the People Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie ize-Iyamu have been using social media and even word of mouth on the streets to mobilise their supporters for the purpose of engaging in violent street protests against the results of the September 28, 2016 governorship election in which our candidate, Mr Godwin Obaseki is coasting home to victory.
This call is an escalation of earlier threats to win the election at any cost. The protests that resulted in clashes with security operatives at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as results are being announced is part of this plot to destabilise the state because the outcome of election is not going in their favour. We have it on good authority that their next phase is to unleash the militants they imported into our dear state for the election.
We therefore call on all the relevant security agencies and the people of Edo state to hold Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, his campaign organisation and the PDP responsible for any breach of the peace during and after the announcement of the election results.
Signed:
The Godwin Obaseki Campaign Organisation

*APC chairman Oyegun loses in his unit as PDP triumphs*

Just a few days after national leader of the APC asked him tp resign, Oyegun the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief John Odigie Oyegun has again lost his unit to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the ongoing Edo election.Just this monday national leader of the APC Bola Tinubu demanded the resignation of Oyegun insisting he had become a liability to the party.

APC national chairman John Odigie-Oyegun acknowledging the crowd just before casting his vote.
Oyegun, who voted at Oredo Ward 2, Unit 1 has not won an election for his party in the unit since joining the APC.

The returning officer of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that the APC scored 69 votes, while the PDP scored 78 votes.

Defrosting the relationship between President Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu


By Sola Adeyeye


A dear friend, who is not a politician, has just forwarded to me a Whatsapp message pertaining to scurrilous statements attributed to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu during a meeting held with his "loyalists" last Saturday. 

I was not supposed to be at the said meeting. I intruded on the meeting by an act of gratuitous serendipity. Fortunately, nobody present at the meeting raised an objection against my presence. I took my seat before Asiwaju began to speak; I heard everything that Asiwaju said from beginning to the end. 

If Lucifer exists, perhaps his very worst demons inhabit the minds of politicians! Nothing besides that can explain the wicked misrepresentations of what Asiwaju said. 
 
Obviously, no reading of the political tea leaves is needed to fathom that all is not well with my party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). But whatever the  disaffection within the APC might be, it is now very clear to me that perhaps unbeknownst to Asiwaju Tinubu and President Buhari, some myrmidons of hell are implacably committed to driving permanent wedges between Asiwaju and the President. 

At no time during the said meeting did Asiwaju say that his residence witnessed any siege during the tenure of President Buhari. Rather, he narrated the siege and other wicked engines of intimidation that were unleashed against him by the Jonathan Presidency. At no time during the said meeting did Asiwaju attribute cowardice to Buhari. Haba! In fact, his speech had minimal reference to President Buhari! He neither said nor alluded that Buhari ate or lived in his residence. If he did, I would never offer a defense for what would have amounted to arrant silliness and needless indecency in the contestation for power. And lastly, at no time did Asiwaju say that the APC must lose the coming election in State of Ondo. 

I now wonder whether anyone at that meeting would have stooped so low to so wickedly misrepresent what were said. I also wonder whether some who were not at the meeting could have used a fecund but evil imagination to fabricate such outright calumny.

I plead with President Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu not to allow their relationship to get more frosty. What are stake are far beyond the personal stakes of Mohammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu. Our republic dithered for far too long on the precipice of disaster. We must not botch the rescue mission that the Nigerian citizenry entrusted to our party. May the God of peace bruise Satan under our feet shortly.

ano

# APC GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARIES REJECTED BY NWC!
# NWC VOTES TO SUBMIT SURROGATE NAME!!!
# NATIONAL CHAIRMAN DISAPPEARED DURING CLOSING PRAYER.!!!!
# MORE SPECULATION AND CONFUSION ABOUT NATIONAL CHAIRMAN'S WHEREABOUTS.!!!

APC NWC finally ratified the rejection of the fraudulent September 3rd Primary at the meeting of the committee just concluded few minutes ago.

11 members were in attendance, 6 voted for the cancellation and the submission of a surrogate name, while 5 voted for the submission of Bar Akeredolu's name. As the closing prayer was been said, the National Chairman sneaked out of the meeting while peoples eyes were closed for prayers.

The whereabouts of the Chairman who's position was defeated at the meeting is now source of serious speculations.

Some people are murmuring that the Chairman might want to attempt a unilateral submission of Bar Akeredolu's name in contravention of the NWC decision.

"If the National Chairman should attempt that, then ONDO State APC would end up as merely Aketi People Congress, we hope they won't kill this party in Ondo State. The fraud was massive and our delegates were disenfranchised. We commend the appeal panel for recommending the cancellation and also hail the NWC for upholding the report, we appeal to the National Chairman not go unilaterally against the NWC decision" said Mr Segun Akinjayeju, the chairman of APC in ward 3 ONDO West Local Government when the breifing was relayed to the party in the local government.

Events will be clearer in the hours ahead.

How Oyegun Unilaterally Smuggled Akeredolu's name into INEC today.
The APC is in the throes of crisis as party chairman John Oyegun dumps the decision of the NWC to cancel Ondo guber unilaterally today in Abuja. Storming out of the NWC meeting in Abuja today after the votes to cancel the primaries carried the day, Oyegun perfected his plan to smuggle in Akeredolu's name this afternoon before the INEC deadline. Facts emerging revealed how Akeredolu was invited into Abuja by the chairman and secretary of the party and Osita izunaso and given the relevant forms to fill and sign. And while the NWC was busy trying to find a solution Osita Izunaso was asked to go to INEC today and submit Akeredolu's name even though no final decision had been taken or communicated to the party in ondo or nationwide.
It was not Ositas duty to submit the name. it was the duty of one kari.

ONDO APC LEADERS BACK FRESH PRIMARY
18 Local government chairmen demand cancellation

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Council of Local Government Chairmen in Ondo state Thursday debunked the report that they supported the ‘disputed’ September 3 primary election won by Mr Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN).
Earlier in the week, a newspaper advertorial was published in a national daily signed by 13 APC local government chairmen upholding the outcome of the Primary election.
However, members of the group in its majority have now thrown their weight behind the recommendation on cancellation by the Appeal committee.
Besides, the Conference of the 203 ward chairmen in all the 18 local government areas in the state have also aligned with the cancellation, describing it “as against the party’s anti-corruption stance”.
They expressed confidence in the party National Working Committee (NWC) to ratify the recommendation soon.
The statement by the party chairmen after its meeting said “We, the undersigned members of Council of Local Government Chairmen, have come across a spurious and bogus advertorial of resolutions made pursuant to the recently concluded Ondo State gubernatorial primary election on page 32 of The Nation, Monday, September 19, by one Mr. Rasheed Badmus.
“We note that at the Council’s meeting on Friday, September 16, the Council meeting neither deliberated on the recent governorship primary election held on September 3 nor did the Council conclude to stand by the outcome of the said primary election.
“We therefore disassociate this Council and its undersigned members from the said resolutions as contained in the spurious publication and condemn it as not our deeds.
“We restate that the issue of whether the APC Ondo State governorship primary election is free, fair and credible and the validity or otherwise of the election of Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, as the Candidate of the Party in the State is for the determination of Ondo State Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee and we resolve to stand by the decision of the Appeal Committee on the primary election.
“We affirm that majority of the people of Ondo State stand by the decision of the Appeal Committee and are prepared for a rerun of the primary election as recommended.
“This is evident in the mood of dark cloud cast on Ondo State since the announcement of Akeredolu as the Candidate of the Party in the State, and the jubilant scenes that met the announcement of annulment on Monday.”
The Party Chairmen advised the NWC to speed up action on the implementation of the recommendation of the Appeal Committee, describing it as “the only sure way of guaranteeing peace, justice and due process of law to guarantee victory for the APC in the November 26 poll.
According to the statement “the only issue tabled for discussion at the Council’s meeting was the resolution of the pending litigation in the Federal High Court, Akure Division in respect of the purported removal from office of the APC Ondo State Chairman, Isaac Kekemeke.
Among APC Party leaders that signed the statement on behalf of the entire group include Tito Babalola (Akoko North East), Akintunde Olainukan (Ondo East), O. Olumide (Ilaje), Chief. Akeremale (Okitipupa), and Z.O Omoge (Irele).
Others are Dauda Bolakale (Akoko South West),Oluwasaanu Ogunbi (Akoko South East), Alhaji Rauf Gbadeyan(Odigbo), A. Adefulire (Ile Oluji/ Oke-igbo) and J. A Oredola (Ose).
In their own statement, the 18 Chairmen of chairmen of the 203 wards in the entire 18 local government areas of the state also expressed support for the recommendation of the Appeal Committee through a signed statement by their leader, Chief James Olumide Kolawole, in Akure yesterday.
According to the statement, the ward chairmen said “As true party leaders in our own rights, we respect the petitions that have been written to the Electoral Appeal Committee, seeking redress as touching the many irregularities that blighted the said gubernatorial primary election”.
“We are confident in the party’s internal mechanism, the NEC, and the Electoral Appeal Committee set up by our party to give a verdict in the coming days, that will be consistent with the stance of integrity that our great party stands for.
“It is to this end that we respect and back the recommendation given by the Appeal Committee, and we hereby, in earnest but patiently, await and will stand by the official outcome from the deliberations of our National Working Committee, and we dissociate ourselves from any desperate move aimed at jettisoning that process.”
One of the LGA Chairmen from Akoko North East, Mr. Tito Babalola, in a seperate statement assured the party members and the people of Ondo that the APC will come out stronger from the present impasse and take over the governance in the state.
He said, “We are sure that our great party in Ondo state will come out more united from this phase, and we will rescue the state from the clueless clutches of the incumbent pseudo-government mismanaging the resources of the sunshine state”.

Ondo Primary: Appeal Panel Recommends Annulment. Party Exco freeze report.
. The APC appeal panel report on the ondo governorship primaries is ready but the APC executive are foot dragging and holding the decision hostage. The 3-man panel in its report made ready last week and submitted to the party recommended the annulment of the September 3 Ondo primaries after the review of all petitions and evidence presented.
The final report was signed by the chairman of the Panel Helen Bendega and Mal.Musa Umar. However three days to the September 22nd INEC deadline for submission of candidates name the APC headquaters is yet to release the report or take a final decision on the appeal report..
findings revealed that the party is scheming to go by the minority report of the third member of the panel, Nikky Eze (member) who wants the primary upheld.
Her minority is regarding as curious and procured as the big men behind Akeredolus victory are bent on frustrating any attempt to have a re-run primaries.
The candidates, ondo chapter of the APC and the party leaders are in the dark as John Oyegun seems to be stalling. Will the report of an ordinary member of the panel be adopted over that of the people other two- the secretary and the chairman.